Chapter 10

Camila

"You know that it is mandatory for us to attend this gala"Dad says to me, trying his best to not yell all because I told him didn't feel well to go.

We go every year, if we miss one year I'm sure it won't be a problem. I don't have to go, if they want to then they can. But I really wasn't up for the challenge.

"She says she's not feeling well Nick, at least let her sit this one out"Judie says rubbing my arm in comfort.

I knew she wasn't like the rest of them, ever since she's been here, she's tried to be on my side as much as possible. I appreciate that, but my father would always get his way, no matter how hard we try and plea with him to let me stay home.

"She's always looking for an excuse to humiliate her family, she's going to that gala, and that's the end of it"Dad says stomping his foot like an angry child.

I got up from the chair and walked out of the study. I made my out into the sitting room, where Emilio and Elijah were seated, chatting up about who know what.

"Are you okay Camila?" Emilio asks looking in my direction.

"I'm fine"I replied not stopping in my tracks, I continued my walk until I was up the staircase, down the hall and into my room.

My hands skimmed through my wardrobe, my eyes searching for a dress to wear. Normally, my mother would pick out my dress, she would pick something that would always catch the attention of said men, the highest in the business world. They always used me as bait, to real in their preys.

It was like a game they played, use me as live bait to get whatever they wanted.And never cared about how I felt in the end, or how hurts I was. But in the end, I grew to be immune toward certain things.

I settled on a straight black dress, the back was open down to the small of my back. I think my mother had bought it for me to wear on one of those business casual dates, with one of their many colleagues. The life I had to live so they could have their name.

"It's so good to see you again Camila" said Mrs. Porters as she stopped to touch my arm.

"You too"I smile with a light nod.

"You look absolutely stunning, might ask for a wear?" she asks and we both laughed a little.

Mrs. Porters was one was a rich old lady, her husband had died leaving her all of his wealth, she had about twelve grandkids who enjoy bathing in their grandfather's riches. Of course we rarely see them out, and they're very polite people, not too shabby, and well educated.

I don't understand why she still came to these things, but she always accompanied her grandson, he was one of my Dad's colleagues. They both worked on many project together, I had a few run ins with him, he was an alright kind of fellow.

"How was your honeymoon, ravishing I bet"Mrs. Porters asks wiggling her grey eyebrows with a smile.

I got the drift of what she was implying which made me laugh, she was definitely something else.

"It was well spent"I replied nodding my head at her, she laughed lightly and we then started to bond over small talk.

After a great talk with Mrs. Porters, I found myself outside, on a balcony, away from everyone else. I was growing bored and hungry, I didn't get a chance to eat anything because my mother forbid I eat anything whenever we were to go out, she didn't want me to look too fat or too skinny.

I have a good amount of body fat, I have way more than her precious Quinn, who rarely eats meat of any kind. And trust when I say, she was quite flimsy, she had long legs, long arms, she was your typical Barbie, especially with the long blonde hair. No one could tell her she wasn't a model, however we both have had countless modeling careers, I was always the one who got more of the attention because I exercise and I eat just right.

Quinn listened to everything Mom told her to do, I once had go starve myself just so Quinn could look fatter and even then, I was still admired, I guess that was one of the reason she hated me.

"Wanna get out of here?", I turn my neck to look Elijah as he stood a few feet away from me.

I looked at him confused, "and go where?" I ask turning my body fully.

"Anywhere, I'm starving, how about pizza?" he asks outstretching his arm to me.

I contemplated whether or not I should leave with him, but I really was starving. I needed the food, so without another thought, I took his hand and we walked through the whole gala, careful not to be seen by our family. But I met eyes with Elijah's mother, she smiled and turned as if she hadn't seen us.

"Finally!" I say flipping the pizza box open and taking a slice.

Elijah chuckled at my behavior but says nothing. After we got to his car, I kicked my heels off and we drove precisely twenty minutes to get to the nearest pizza place. Then we got home and changed, I really needed to be out of that environment and in some comforting clothes.

So here we sat, out in the back, at the pool area. I didn't even notice there was a pool here, just one huge house with unlimited rooms, I was always in the kitchen or inside my own room. So I never had the chance to explore the entire house for trapped doors, although that would be fun.

Elijah had changed into a sweater and sweatpants, he looked like a normal human being. His hair was almost covering his forehead as usual, making him look like the handsome dream girls swooned for. I admitted it plenty of times, he was a charming man, too charming for his own good.

"You done staring?" Elijah asks with a cocky smile on his face.

"I wasn't staring"I say biting my slice of pizza, "I was just admiring"I nodded at him.

"Admiring?" Elijah asks with a intriguing look on his face.

"Don't even start"I say rolling my eyes, I knew was going to start some sort of conversation and me have a secret obsession with him.

"Fine, so, I know we've only spent two whole weeks together and it's our fourth week together now, but I have to say, I know nothing about you"he says picking up another slice of pizza, that's his third piece, he really was starving.

"What's there to know?" I ask shrugging my shoulders.

I really wasn't that interesting, I don't know why people bothered sometimes. They admired my figure, they didn't know what I had to grow through to maintain it.

"For starters, what's that thing you do three times a day?" Elijah asks while unscrewing a bottle of water.

"You mean meditating?" I asked with a confused expression.

"Yeah, how do you find time to meditate and keep calm with this crap going on in our lives?"he asks motioning around us.

I smile, many people have asked how I always kept a smile on my face while going through everything.

"Fear is a factor of the mind, young one"I say taking a deep breath.

Elijah started at me for a few seconds and then we laughed.

"My grandpa used to say that it didn't matter what you were going through, it's how you handle going through it"I say smiling proudly.

"He was a wise old man"Elijah says going deep in thought.

Whenever I mentioned my grandfather to anyone, they always went in thought, he indeed left a great mark on the people around him.

"You miss him?" Elijah asks catching me off guard.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I do, but he's always with me"I say showing him my crescent necklace.

Elijah's eyes twinkled at the golden pendant before he looked up at my eyes, I held his gaze for a few seconds, he didn't really resemble his father. Him and his brother had their own face but resembled each other. Elijah and I got along pretty good since our little trip, but I will never let my guard down.

"Maybe I can teach you, the whole meditation thing"I suggest while wiping my hands on a piece of napkin.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, my father prefers me the way I am"he says as he shook his head in disapproval.

To say I was disappointed would be the least, I wasn't expecting him to say yes. Eric Camorra was a man of many things, and controlling was one of them. But maybe if I worked on Elijah and eased his mind, he would be able to do things much better than his father.

I leaned closer to him, our faces inches apart, he was confused at first until I spoke.

"Your father isn't the master of your mind Elijah, you are"I say softly then moved away to continue my meal.

I watched as his eyes searched my now relaxed feature, he was rethinking a whole lot in this present moment, it will only take him a while to realize that he was this father's puppet. He was a man of his own and he was the ruler of his own fate.